Saponified composition



Patented July 2, 1929.

PATENT oFFIcE.

HARRY MI. WEBER, OF BLOOMFIELD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T0 ELLIS-FOSTERCOM- PANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SAPONIFIED COMPOSITION.

No Drawing.

This invention relates to a process of making asaponified productcontaining unsaponified oil adapted for use as a shampoo cream or pasteand relates in particular to a product containing saponified cocoanut orpa m kernel oil incorporated with unsaponified oil in such amanneras toproduce a substantially smooth paste having free lathering properties.

In the preparation of soaps intended for shampoo purposes it has beenproposed in the past to completely saponify an oil such as cocoanut oiland make a solution of such saponified product either aqueous oralcoholic to yield a preparation-which is placed on the marketforshampooing purposes. Such products oftentimes contain excess alkaliwhich has injurious effects and they are also bulky due to the largeamount of water or other solvent employed. In the present invention itis particularly the object to produce a highly concentrated shampooingmaterial which will have no objectionable amounts of free alkali andwhich will have a tendency to leave in the scalp a beneficial amount ofa vegetable or mineral oil. The product also may be suitably medicatedif desired and likewise suitably perfumed but in the present inventionit is especially an objectto carry out the process under conditionswhich will afford a composition that has a pleasing odor in itself orone which has no objectionable odor but has an odor indicative of theorigin of the oil employed,

thus the use of strong perfumes to cover up the odor of ill smellingoils or rancid soaps is avoided and a product obtained which willimmediately indicate to the user the nature of the materials employedand also that they have been; derived in a cleanly manner without rancidconditions.

The basis of the lathering component of my composition is preferablycocoanut oil. This when saponified has remarkable lathering propertiesand such oil together with palm kernel oil have lathering qualitiesgreatly superior to the other common saponi fication oils, Thepreparation of cocoanut oil soap which has no objectionable odor ishowever not an easy matter. Oocoanut oil 1 as obtained is often rancidand in boiling down withalkali to make a soap further rancldificationmay occur. Alsoif any un-' saponified cocoanut or similar kind of oil ispresent during the drying. out process em- Application filed October 4,1920, Serial No. 414,616. Renewed March 6, 1926.

place imparting a very undesirable odor to the soap. Furthermore it ispreferable to have the soap practically free from free alka-. li so thatthe only alkali developed in use is substantially that produced byhydrolysis of the soap. In order to produce a substantiallyneutral'product I prefer to proceed in the following manner. Thecocoanut oil is saponified with an excess of alkali preferably causticsoda when a hard soap is desired. In some cases for particularly softpreparations caustic potash may be employed but in the preferredembodiment of the in vention caustic soda is the alkali used. Thecocoanut oil may be saponified as stated with an excess of caustic soda,using suflicient water, boiling being continued until the oil is asnearly completely saponified as possible.

brine and the soap precipitate thus obtained re-dissolved and againprecipitated by the addition of brine or salt. The product then ispractically free from free alkali and may be dried. Preferably atemperature of 100-110 C. is employed in drying the soap.

As ordinarily prepared from the grades of cocoanut oil available thedried product will have an odor slightly to strongly rancid and if theproduct is incorporated with sweet vegetable oil (i. e. vegetable oilsubstantially free from acidity) under these conditions the latter mayhave imparted to it an objectionable odor. In order to remove thehydrocarbons, aldehydes or other bodies giving this rancid odor thedried. soap may be washed with a solvent for these bodies (for exampleether) which removes all such rancid smell and gives a white powderpractically free from odor and which may be 1ncorporated with the oilwithout sacrificing the odor of the latter.

Powder so obtained is then mixed with the oily base, the latter being aclean peanut oil, well refined cocoanut oil,,olive oil, or similarvegetable oil or it may be petroleum oil of a refined character such forexample as white mineral oil or Russian mineral oil, petrolatum orpurified soft greasy material from mineral oil. Preferably thecomposition contains a greater proportion of the soa than the oil. Oilssuch as here'mentioned are liquid or of a soft conslstency, and arehereinafter referred to s s l as distinguishing from normally hardandsolid oils. The oils above mentioned are substantially stable whenexposed to the at lathering properties and containing only a moderateamount of the healing or medicating oil. Hence a major proportion of thesoap powder is used, preferably two to three parts of the powder to onepart of the oil. This is preferably ground with the oil until a smoothpaste results, depending on the consistency of the oil. The proportionof the latter may be varied according-to conditions. Enough soap ispreferably used to afford a paste which holds its consistency wellwithout separation of oil from the solid soap. Hence an oil of thenature of Russian petroleum oil requires a greater amount of the soappowder to produce such a paste than does an oil of more consistentcharacter such as cocoanut oil. powder with the oil in thismannerappears to be a highly useful step in producing a composition ofthe desired consistency, as it not only enables the use of a lesseramount of oil but also affords a composition from which the oilcomponent does notrun or separate in an objectionable manner;

As an illustration of the manner in which the process of the presentinvention may be carried out and a desirable product produced thefollowing is given: 1

50 parts by weight of cocoanut oil was saponified with 12.5 parts byweight of canstic soda. The caustic soda was first dis-' solved insufiicient water to make a 20% solution. The saponification was startedby diluting a portion (say half) of the 20% solution with double itsvolume of water, heating the dilute caustic soda solution to the boilingpoint and the cocoanut oil. was then added slowly. After saponificationhad started the'rest of the alkali in. the form of a strong 20% solution'of caustic soda was gradually added, while maintaining the solutionat the boiling point. When the saponification was complete the soapformed was salted out by meansof a strong salt brine. The soap wasseparated from the spent lye and brine solution. It was thenredissolvedin boiling water and again thrown out of solution by means of a strongsalt brine. The soap was then dried at 100-110 ;C. until the productcrumbled readily on crushmg. The soap was. then ground to pass a 50 meshscreen and. was then extracted in the cold wlth ether. The soap productobtamed was a white odorless powder.

r 24 parts by weight of the abovesoap stock (1. e., the purifiedwhitesoap) was then ground with 14 parts by weight of a highly refinedcocoanut oil until a smooth creamy Grinding the dry soap paste wasobtained. There was no difference in the odor of the shampoo pasteformed and the, odorof the original highly refined cocoanut oil. Theproduct obtained was eminently suited for purposes of shampoomg.

lVhile I have mentioned ether as an extraction medium to remove rancidmaterial I may also use other volatile solvents which do not dissolvesoap readily and which do not leave any objectionable odor in theproduct as for example well rectified carbon bisulphide or benzol may beused.

In carrying out the foregoing operations I prefer to obtain an anhydrousproduct or one that is practically free from moisture especially whenthe oil employed is of vegetable origin. For example cocoanut oildirectly obtained from thefresh fruit has a very pleasing cocoanutoilodor which is quickly destroyed in contact with moisture or alkali.Therefore in order to preserve this odor for a considerable time atleast I prefer to have the oil dry and the dcodorized soap powder freefrom moisture. To this end strong drying should be resorted to, to givea well desiccated product.

salts of thefatty acids, prepared for ex- 9 ample by saponifying a fatwith an alkali. It is not intended to employ this term to embrace fattyacid salts nor resin acid salts of the alkaline earth metals, suchalkaline earth metal compounds being generally insoluble in water. It isfurthermore not in tended to cover in this specification compositions inwhich resin acids are used in large amounts (i. e. inamount equal to orin excess of the amount of fatty matter) in preparing the soap.

lVhat I claim is 1.. The process of making a shampoo composition whichcomprises saponifying cocoanut oil with an excess of caustic soda,salting out to separate the soap from free alkali, drying and extractingwith a solvent capable of removing rancid material, eliminating thesolvent and grinding the-prod uct with a minor proportion of an voilvehicle to produce a paste.

2. A process of .making a composition suitable as a shampoo in the formof a creamy mixture, which comprises the step of mixing togethersubstantially anhydrous water-soluble soap substantially free fromrancid constitutents commonly present in cheap soaps, with a drynon-rancid cleansmelling vegetable fatty oil substantially stable in theatmosphere, in such proportions as to :form a creamy mass, the mixingbeing conducted so as to produce a substantially uniform mixture.

3. A process of making a shampoo material which comprises mixingtogether tially free from rancid constituents con'h;

monly present in cheap soaps, from which the odoriferous compounds havebeen re- 5 moved, together with a clean highly refined,

. dry'non-rancid oil substantially stable in the atmosphere, the mixingbeing so conducted as to produce a substantially uniform mixtureo'f'said materials.

LA shampoo composition, Comprising a liquid to pasty mass comprisingraminor pro-- substantially neutral dry water-soluble soap,

free from the rancid odor-normally present in soaps made from somewhatrancid grease.

HARRY M. WEBER}

